The Most Detailed LS3 In The Universe!

[Nathan Moreno]

Hey guys Nathan here. As some of you might know, I'm the oldest of Al's three boys. What you might not know is I'm also the best looking, LOL. I hope my brothers don't read this.

First off, I just want to say I love this site and understand my first love is muscle cars. I've been a lurker here for a long time and have learned a lot from everyone. The other thing I've notice is all the folks here are TOP SHELF! So when I say thanks for the props, it means a lot to me coming from this community. I really appreciate it!!!!

At my Dad's suggestion, I created an account and hope I can contribute to the group.

I might start a build thread in the project section if thats OK. I know as a Gen 5 Camaro, it's outside Lateral-g's norm. Being we are all car guys, I think you guys would still appreciate the work I'm putting into it. Plus some of the stuff is relevant as it's an LS platform with Tremec trans. So you could say it would be more of an idea thread than anything else.

Maybe I'll call the thread "Braking the Lateral-G mold II", Hope you don't mind Brent, LOL

In the meantime, here is a quick background on the project. I've named the car "G5R". The G5 representing 5th gen and the R for racing. The theme is a racy, mechanical, industrial look while elegant at the same time. Part of my influence is Chris's "Blu Balls" build and Steve's "Bad Penny, Jame's "One Lap", Tenacity, etc, etc, etc,....... My ultimate goal is two fold, to build a decent handling car that I can take to the track with the attention to details you'd normally don't see in these cars.


Thanks again for the great site and more importantly, the great community of car guys,

Nathan

Originally Posted by garickman

Do you have any pics before it was assembled after the parts were powder coated?

Garickman, here are some before and after..........


Before I had any of the pieces powder coated, I removed any casting seams, insignia, etc....

These are the factory motor mounts which look kinda cool for OEM. The one on the right is the before any sanding



[IMG]http://i1231.photobucket.com/albums/ee508/AL7319

This is the before on the power steering bracket, kinda rough. By the way, these brackets are is $13 at GM.

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I tried a couple of different approaches before I settled on powder coating. this was a brush look.







Here is a before of the oil cooler. By the way, I'm not going to use this cooler as I'm replacing it with a remote system. I will post pictures later of the parts I'm using. Some of you guys might be able to incorporate them in your projects.






Here a before of the AC compressor



And an after..... In this picture, I used a spray can color called "cast iron gray". It was a pretty color but had to much bronze for the pallet I'm going with. I painted all the accessories in a BMW color called "Frozen gray". It's basically a gunmetal with a flat clear.



Here are the rest of the accessories in the "cast iron gray"

Originally Posted by MarkM66

Looks great! Are all the accessory mounts from a 5th gen Camaro?

Yes

Also, why is there a belt on the w/p if it's electric?

Originally Posted by HEEP

Has anyone found part numbers for these brackets? I'm wondering if factory setup like this is available.

Yes, you can get them from the dealer. All three are less than $100

HEEP

Originally Posted by HEEP

I found this link to the brackets. I'm guessing that the reservoir for the power steering has been removed and you are using a separate one. Can you get me this information?

Yes, I'm using a remote reservoir tank from Lee's Power Steering. It has cooling fins built into it. I will post pics later

Thanks,
HEEP

I will post a lot more pictures and answer the other questions I didn't get to later.

[INTMD8]

WOW! Amazing work, looks awesome

[Ron in SoCal]

Originally Posted by INTMD8

WOW! Amazing work, looks awesome

x2 looks great Nathan! Your Dad raised you right....right down to the humble brotherly competition

[Bsinclair]

i like the cast iron gray... the brushed finish also looked great but you almost have to continue the theme all the way through the build when you brush finish..

[WSSix]

Welcome Nathan. You did a great job on the motor. The detail is amazing. When you have time, make a project thread for the car too. I know I'd like to see it.

[badmatt]

I like the frugal use of the stock components for the accessory drive... Goes to show that people do not need to spend 2300 bucks on a tru-track or system of that matter.

Looks great Nathan!

[Sieg]

Welcome Nathan - Very much appreciate the practicality and tasteful attention to detail you're applying to the project.

[waynieZ]

Nice job, it looks amazing.

[Rick D]

Very nice work Nathan Love the detail. And yes please start a build thread!!!!

[Nathan Moreno]

Thanks guys! I appreciate suggesting I do a build thread being it's not a early gen.

Here is some of the work I did on the cylinder heads before sending the to Lingenfelter for a head job.......... somehow that doesn't sound right, LOL

You can see the difference between the two.






If you'll notice, the bolt hole on the right has been flatten while the one on the left still remains to be done.



This pictures shows were the holes on the front passenger side cylinder head welded in and the face was re-mild to get a cleaned machine look.



Before I powder coated anything, I made sure to clean of all casting seams and imperfections.


Before:



After:



Done:



This is a "Turn One" high performance power steering pump in it's natural state.

Before:



After:



Here is one of the oil filter I'm using. It's from Pure Power. I say one because I'm also running a second XRP filter on one of the oil lines going to the cooler.